


Hey Mr Pompeii

by RebelDrFerguson



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Attempted Murder, Drama, Episode: s04e02 The Fires of Pompeii, F/M, Fighting, Post-Episode: s04e02 The Fires of Pompeii, Sex, whouffaldi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-02 13:16:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11510199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebelDrFerguson/pseuds/RebelDrFerguson
Summary: Team Tardis land back in Rome, 6 years after Pompeii happened. The Doctor wants to find his face. Finding Caecilius widowed, struggling to work from an unknown illness and alone now his children have moved on. The TimeLord finds himself out voted as you and Clara demand you try to help. Did his wife really die in an accident? or has someone got it out for Lobus? You always believed in love at first sight.





	1. Alone

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be an odd ball to write but let me know if you want to increase the smut level because I'm going to black out areas to keep it mature. I just find Capaldi's FOP character so sexy. #IHasIssues

 

 

"Clara?"

"What now?"

"I can't find that six sided spanner shaped thingy!"

 

You look up from your spot on the sofa to see Clara throwing her book down and storming off to find the TimeLord in the console hub.

Most days started like this now, you get up, wash, eat with Clara, go and hang out in the ship before relaxing in the library comparing notes on books you've found.

According to the calendar, you'd packed, you'd been on board with Team Tardis just over 5 months.

Living life between planets and a failing art degree. Last week you had announced to The Doctor as you hulked your suitcases and a few boxes into the ship, you were leaving earth behind.

Working part time in a supermarket had nothing on saving planets.

He'd complained you were young, agreeable you'd thought about that later, perhaps you had been rash to throw life out of the window, but when you had no close family left just the odd cousin 'down under 'and lived alone on a minimum wage job, the universe was much more the challenge you'd wanted in life.

After a particularly fantastic day out, robbing another bank, saving another species and drinking some alien champagne to some Royals new born, he'd declared you could stay, so here you were. Officially Team Tardis, and currently working undercover as 'Love Agent' between a certain Time Lord and his 'not my girlfriend but do you think she'd date me?' first companion.

 

So far a candle lit dinner date in the Tardis kitchen had gone well, you'd made some excuse you weren't feeling up to dinner and had set the pair up.

They'd enjoyed themselves, laughing about adventures and sharing a massive chocolate sundae.

The ship had even started to provide you with popcorn for the 'Romantic Drama' entertainment. She got such a kick out of making them run into each other naked in the corridor after showering.

You had to admit, it was so funny to watch the usually unflappable time lord babble and stare at the ceiling to make it clear he was not trying to admire her boobs.

You had the first time on video, you watched it back every night.

The Doctor running down to his room in nothing but a towel, falling over an invisible object and flashing his bare ass at Clara who gasped so loudly you'd heard it echo down the hall!

"He's got such a pert ass"

You snap back from your day dreaming to see Clara re enter the room smiling.

"He's knelt down trying to fix something in the pipes and god...that ass...oaf!" she says making you giggle as she mimes squeezing it with her hand.

"It is a lovely bum..." you comment casually, it wasn't like you didn't like The Doctor. You just felt something was missing. He was your type and also...not. You hated that you couldn't put your finger on why.

You'd always dreamed of marrying a man who enjoyed art. Perhaps run a museum, travel the world. Sure The Doctor travelled, he took you to amazing places but something was missing.

He just didn't quite...spark you enough. You'd convinced yourself it was the two hearted alien thing. That's all.

 

No more than an hour later The Doctor strolled back in covered in oil smiling away and declaring he had an idea.

"Go on then Mr Almighty Time Lord, what is this brilliant plan?" you ask laughing and grabbing your jumper from the back of the sofa. It was almost tea time and you were dedicated to dinner at seven.

The Doctor dropped down into the seat you'd just vacated and placed his feet on the table.

"Let's go find me"

You and Clara looked to each other in confusion.

"You're right here, case solved..." Clara giggled. The Doctor tutted and pointed to his face.

"No I mean...this...this face, the man himself, Caecilius!" he announced with a massive grin and Clara gawped.

"Oh, My God"

Now it was The Doctor's turn to look confused. "What? What's wrong?"

"You got...that face from the...you mean the marble guy from Pompeii?" she asks wide eyed.

The Doctor nodded slowly knowing full well he was missing something here.

"Oh, you liked Romans, didn't you? You still got that poster of Marcus Aurelius ?" you tease making Clara slap your arm and blush harder.

The Doctor's face remained neutral. Then he caught on. The smirk which very slowly appeared had Clara up grabbing the scattered mugs on the coffee table and commenting about helping with dinner in less than a minute and she was out of the door leaving you smirking with the TimeLord.

 

 

 

Dinner went without a flaw, apart from the fact Clara spent most of it looking away from The Doctor's knowing smirk.

The Doctor insisted both you and Clara change into something lighter after dinner for 85AD. According to the Tardis, it was dry and warm outside in Rome but he said it would be best to blend with the locals.

 

* * *

 

You'd always love the chill you got from standing in another time.

As you reached out to stroke the wall of the building beside you, your smiling at the gritty stone beneath your fingertips. This was gone.

Rome...this Rome, was no longer here. But here you were. Standing in some dark alleyway waiting for your friends, standing on a cobbled path covered with a mixture of hay, muck and...god know what else as you heard people in the distance. You begin to wonder about the story The Doctor had told you, about that fate drenched day in Pompeii, how his friend Donna had forced him to save this man you were heading out for.

Was Caecilius even still alive? you wonder...

"How do I look?" Clara beamed as she finally appeared exiting the ship behind you.

You turn and admire her dark red toga.

"Looks good on you..."  you reach up to touch the gold necklace around her neck. "Where'd you find that?"

"The Doctor found it, he said it was one of the gifts the family gave them" Clara replies touching the handcrafted necklace and grinning. "Do you think we'll find him?" she wondered aloud stepping towards the end of the alley and looking around.

You shrug and join her. "I don't know..." you tug at the hem of your toga. "I hope so, for his sake at least... " you say jabbing a thumb back at the ship in reference to the Time Lord. " it would be sad to find he's died"

Clara nodded in agreement before you both turned to see The Doctor exiting the Tardis still suited and booted but minus his jacket.

"What happened to blending with the locals?" Clara laughs as she grabs his hand.

"Ah, they won't notice me...anyway as long as we don't get lost we shouldn't run into too many people!" 

You laugh and pat his shoulder. "Come on then...let's go find your Mr Pompeii eh?"

He smiles and starts pulling Clara along, you follow him out of the alley down the street, dodging boxes and crates and making for the house in which he recalled taking the family too in Rome.

 

You find the place empty when you get there. The shop keeper at the end of the road said the family had moved out a few years ago.

But as soon as The Doctor mentioned the marble merchant to sellers you pass by, he managed to gain enough directions to a new address.

The house was much smaller here, sat on the edge of a farm.

Wheelbarrows sat idly around full of stone. Tools lay scattered and there wasn't a worker in sight.

You notice a few pens of chickens and some older looking statues around but nothing to say that a wealthy man lived here.  The Doctor paused half way up the path and looked about frowning.

"This can't be right..." he muttered. "As far as I know marble is still highly wanted... he should still be living in something the size of a mansion not some run down farm..."

You look about and sigh. "Something must have gone wrong..." you had a bad feeling about what you were going to discover.

Clara made for the huge paint peeling ornate door and knock loudly.

After a good minute she tried again then the sound of a lock was heard.

The Doctor rushed forward to see a small woman answer. Layla. The daughter's hand maid.

"If you have come for business I'm afraid he is unavailable until further notice..." the women squeaked quietly, possibly afraid.

The Doctor frowned and looked about. "I-I'm here to see, Caecilius, I'm an...old friend you could say, I met him back in Pompeii"

The women blinked and frowned pulling the door open further. "He never speaks of it, you don't sound like you're from..."

"It's me Layla, The Doctor!" he cuts her off more gently trying to get her to see. "Remember? the guy who came in the pinstripe suit?"

The women seem to register the image but frowned further. "You don't look like him?"

"Ah, yeah, I've greyed a bit I guess, been awhile, I've got new travelling companions too..." he gestures to you and Clara behind him. "But it's me I swear, Where's Quintus, he'll remember me" he smiles.

The women sighed and looked back in the house. "He's not here anymore, he moved out once he got his honours and now works further in the city...he's not been to see his father for three years"

The Doctor looked sadden by this news. "Where's Evelina and Metella?" you could tell by the tone of his voice he could feel something had gone terribly wrong.

"They are gone too...Evelina is married and has moved North...Metella has passed, she died last year in a tragic accident, he is alone"  Layla sighs and steps back to allow the man inside the darkened house.

The Doctor looks about the small living space, a few chairs, a fireplace, the red velvet lounge reminded from the old house, a few painting on the walls, all the curtains were shut and the place smelt a bit damp.

"So...he downsized? But, surely the work has been..." he started but Layla hushed him.

"Shush, please he is sleeping, no, no work, he is ill, very ill, has been so since Mettella died"

You and Clara look to each other concerned. "Doctor, maybe we should leave?" You suggest feeling rather out of place.

The Doctor looks between you all before folding his arms. "When will he be awake?"

Layla looked worried by the question but thanks. "A few hours and Janice will be by to make his dinner, come back then perhaps, he is always better after eating..."

With that said you leave in silence, the sound of the door shutting behind you.

You all stop at the end of the path and look back at the house in worry like you'd just witnessed someone under attack.

"Let's find the hospital..." The Doctor finally says. "Quintus probably doesn't know his father's ill, could be better to bring help"

You nod and turn to look at one of the half finished statues then cock your head.

"Is...that gold dust?" You ask spotting the glittering dust on the side of the statue and then note the cracked features.

Clara walks over to it and frowns. "Can't be, why would he use gold dust?"

You realise it sounds stupid and nod, but The Doctor raises an eyebrow, you see he notes the find you made but doesn't comment and you follow him back towards the main road.

"Why do I have a feeling, we're going to be playing detective today? you ask Clara as you follow the Time Lord.

Clara laughs and flicks her hair back. "It seems he's on the scent of something...but of what, I have no idea"


	2. Questions and Enemies

 

"He's sick? I'm amazed he hasn't fallen Ill sooner from all that work in the mines..." Quintus huffs from behind his desk.

The boy The Doctor once knew from that day in Pompeii was now older. Rougher around the edges and rougher around the chin too. In his early twenties, he was one of the youngest doctors in this small hospital but the best according to the nurse at the desk.

"I'm not sure I can come see him I'm afraid, I have too many on the ward as it is here, I've barely had time to be with my fiancée never mind visit my father since mother died..." he growls standing and running a hand through his hair.

The Doctor shakes his head knowing he shouldn't push for the boy's help. "I won't be able to see your father until later, Layla said he was sleeping"

Quintus swallowed obviously a bit put out by the news he might be about to lose his father as well. "Look err, if you can get word to me about his condition perhaps, symptoms or something maybe I can get someone to fetch him here, or I can get some excuse to get away but I can't leave on the fact he's my dad...Id' be hung if someone died because I wasn't around when we are this short of staff" he admits looking at the only two nurses he had to help on this ward. "This place is down four nurses and Doctor due to the recent virus outbreak and I'm doing extra hours as it is Doc"

The boy had accepted The Doctor the second he recalled the breaking into Petrus's house for clues on the sisterhood. The whole new body thing didn't faze him much either, the boy said he was revered as a God by the family anyway for the families rescue.

"I'll see what I can do to get him help, I'm sure we can do something" The Doctor reassures the lad putting on a brilliant smile.  

Quintus laughs and picks up some papers eyeing up Clara before he makes to leave. "I'm sure you'll sort it out Doctor, I mean, come on, you saved us from a volcano eruption surely some little bug or virus isn't too hard for you?"

You frown as the boy leaves. "I just hope it is a virus...at least he could be saved..."

Clara agrees. "He could just have something that simple..." she looked to The Doctor.

His face was impassive, He clearly didn't seem to think so.

 

* * *

 

 

They spent the remaining hour wandering about the city, The Doctor discussing his previous trip to Pompeii while you admired the stalls and merchants.  

You were about to turn the corner when you noticed something.

"Oh, this is pretty" You say aloud catching Clara's attention. She turned to see you holding a necklace from the stall.

"That's odd for a design..." she admits eyeing the piece of carved stone, turning it in her palm.  "It looks like marble"

That caught The Time Lords attention and he leant over to view the piece.

"It is marble...where have I seen this before?" he asked to no one in particular as you handed over the necklace.

"Nowhere, I made it, I make all this" The merchant waved a hand at the stall abruptly looking a little bit peeved they were criticising his works.

The Doctor frowned at the glaring male and fumbled in his pocket tossing a coin on the table before handing you the item back.

"I don't think you did" he growled as the man swiped up the coin with a confused look.

You and Clara follow the Time Lord as he changed direction back towards the farm house.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" Clara could feel this was becoming serious.

"That necklace is marble, it's marble from a mine in Pompeii, a mine which is covered and lost to metres of lava now, so why does he have so much of the stuff, and why does it have the exact same design lines of something I've seen before...did you see that rough edge? he opens his hand asking for the piece back and shows you want he meant.

"Doesn't it look like it's broken off something, there were plenty of similar pieces on that table and I bet you all the money you want, that if I'd have bought every piece and set them together it would have made a tablet!" he huffed.

"A tablet for what?" you ask looking about as people watched you standing in the road.

"Back when I landed in Pompeii, Caecilius was doing some work for a rich nobleman, the stone tablets just happened to have been parts for a crashed spaceship under the volcano...that was the whole reason the thing blew up" he sighed handing you back the necklace again and stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Clara's jaw dropped in shock. "You're telling me, this might have been Lobus's work...the market guy...you think he stole them?" she stumbled over her words as theories began to whirl around her mind.

The Doctor began to walk again back in the direction of the house leaving you and Clara to follow.

"I don't know, he definitely didn't make them, but we are going to find out just why he has them"

 

Layla was happy to allow them in this time round. They sat in the dim living area to talk about what had happened while The Doctor was gone.

"Mettella was killed in a cart accident, she was on board one of the courier carts with a lot of Caecilius's marble pieces when they ran into a stray horse...the cart was over turned, she was crushed and the driver was killed by a kick to head"  she sighed.

"He has never forgiven himself for letting her go out that day"

The Doctor swallowed and glanced about the bare room. Apart from a few dusty pieces of furniture and the odd painting, there wasn't a lot to say this was the house of a merchant.

"How much did he lose?" Clara asked catching on to the Doctor train of thought.

"Nearly all the pieces were broken, about 4 had been saved and eventually sold to the owners but the money... such a loss of goods and his wife, Caecilius hasn't been working properly since" she admitted laying out a cloth on the large wooden dining table.

Layla, do you recognise this at all?" You ask holding out the necklace The Doctor had bought that afternoon.

The small women took the piece and frowned running her fingers over the design. "I-I can't say I do, but this...this marble is from his old mine, I could spot it anywhere, it's so rare that when he moved here with what little they had saved from the mine, it was highly wanted"

The Doctor pursed his lips. "He went back?"

Layla shook her head. "No, No no no, his son, Quintus went back with a few of the new employees to seek out any trace of the mine...his father was struggling to get the right leases for work in Rome and his tuition was suffering because of the lack of money. They managed to dig a small cave into the base of the mountain, they rescued plenty of large pieces of the marble that had been left in the carts"

The Doctor blinked. "Layla the place would have been feet deep in solid lava..."

Layla shook her head again. "No, he said the base of the mountain hadn't been that deep, in fact, there was still grass up there, he said it was like some giant had been hacking away at the lava, huge rocks lay about chipped off the side of the mountain, natural caverns all over the place"

You and Clara looked to each other and then at The Doctor who was beginning to look very worried.

"Where did they put the marble?" he asked standing from the lounge.

"It is out back, Caecilius has only used a few pieces since then..."

 

You follow the Time Lord out of the back porch and gasp at the huge pile of marble sat leaning against one of the walls of the house. The Doctor knelt down picking up a small chunk and sniffed it.

"It is defiantly marble" he states as you reached out to stroke your hand across a heavy looking white rock.

"Okay, so Quintus went back to get this stuff because the mine deal fell through, some of Caecilius's pieces have ended up unclaimed in a market place, he's violently ill from something unknown, and what...?" You add up the facts finding something missing from the scene.

"I think someone is trying to get there revenge" The Doctor finished dropping the stone and standing to look about.

"Are you saying someone is behind all this?" Clara asked folding her arms annoyed that things were more complicated than before.

"That man claimed he had made the necklace, I bet if we split up and search else where we find at least one more merchant with the same marble..."

"You think they maybe stole pieces from the accident scene?" You fill in, it made sense.

"No" The Doctor steps back to look at one of the broken statues laid in the grass.

"I think...someone caused that accident on purpose for the pieces"

 

* * *

 

When Caecilius awoke he was surprised to find he had company.

The poor man looked completely washed out, his hair greying, his face pale and he practically trembled in the doorway.

When Layla hushed his doubts about the older looking Time Lord being the Doctor that had saved his life, he'd begun to ask questions to confirm the man's story.

"You can do what?" he asked when Clara mentioned about regeneration.  

"I can change bodies, if I'm seriously hurt, or even dying, my DNA resets itself so to speak, my body burns its self out and then reforms to a new face" The Doctor explained.

Caecilius just ended up laughing and coughing. "Now that is something could do with"

They spoke little over dinner, Clara watching how the last few dregs of his house staff rushed about fetching him water and warmer clothes, making up herbal mixtures to ease his stomach cramps.

"Lobus when did this start?" The Doctor asked sipping his own drink.

The man paused to think. "About two months after Mettela died...an old friend of Petrus had returned that statue I have out front, a few days after I was struck down with this horrible bug"

"Has he been back since?" You ask recalling the dust on the statue. The Doctor was right this sounded so fishy.

"Erm, yes, he comes by every few weeks to ask how I am, asking whether I would sell him any more of the saved marble" Lobus admits.

"You've sold him some of it?" Clara asks worriedly. Caecilius nodded. "Only one piece, a rather hefty chunk but not enough to keep him happy clearly"

You pull out the necklace and slide it across the table to the roman catching his tired yet bright blue eyes. "Do you recognise this?"

Caecilius took up the piece with a shaking hand and frowned turning it over. "Of course, I made it years ago in Pompeii, in fact, Doctor, you've seen this piece, I made it for Petrus"

You all jump as the Time Lord thumped the table.  "I knew it"

"Lobus...you wouldn't happen to have any enemies in Rome?"  You ask distracting the merchant from the grumbling alien.

The man just shook his head. "Unless you count the man who keeps buying out my mines from under me, then no..."

"Buying you out?" Clara asks blinking.

"He's swooped in on the last four mines I had bid for, throwing money forward that I couldn't even compete with, even for such small places, it's like he's trying to stop my work" Lobus complained breaking into a coughing fit.

 

Once he recovered you called for Layla, cutting off the conversation and suggesting he needed to lie down.

The Doctor seems to agree and helps you carry the merchant over to his lounge by the fire.

"So we have a mysterious rival miner, a mysterious illness, a mysterious market stall owner selling Caecilius's  work under his own name, the mysterious death of Mettella and mysterious mentions of the mines back in Pompeii being open...did I mention this is mysterious?" You finally spoke up when it was clear the man had nodded off.

"Maybe you were right...maybe we should just leave"

Clara couldn't believe what The Doctor had just suggested. "Are you serious?"

"Why not, you're right this is complicated, it is mysterious but it looks like it's about to get dangerous too, if Petrus is involved then I don't fancy waiting to see what aliens are about to blow Rome up as well" he growled.

"We're not leaving, we're staying the right the hell here to help him!" she demanded angrily at his tone.

"But Clara...I..." The TimeLord starts to argue only to have a small hand covering his lips.

"No buts, you came here to find him, he needs you again, he needs us, you know you can't just walk away from him now..." Clara insists looking back over to the Roman marble merchant laid asleep on the lounge by the fire pit.

The Doctor sighed and fiddled with his sleeve.

"I know...I know...your right, I can't walk away...he's the first person I saved that made me realise I should never JUST walk away if I can be a good man just for the slightest thing"  The Time Lord admitted. "But, Donna almost died with me fighting off the Pyroviles, I don't fancy seeing that happen to either of you"

"We're not leaving" You both managed to say at the same time earning a huge huff from the Time Lord.

"Fine, we'll sort this mess out, but at the first sign of an alien invasion all of us are making for the Tardis" he growled.

"All of us?" Clara inquired.

"That means him too, I saved him once and I'll bloody well do it again as long as the universe isn't going to be mad at me for it"


End file.
